The impact of East Coast fever on cattle production in pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems: Perceptions of Pokot and Tugen communities in Northern Rift Valley province, Kenya

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Abstract

A study using participatory epidemiology (PE) methodologies was conducted in West
Pokot and Baringo districts, Northern Rift Valley, Kenya to assess the status of East
Coast Fever (ECF) and obtain livestock keepers’ perceptions of how the disease impacts
on livelihoods in pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems. The PE methods used
included; scoring and ranking, proportional piling and disease impact matrix scoring
alongside key informant interviews. Semi structured interviews were used for probing
and clarification of results from the exercises. A total of 658 livestock keepers
participated in meetings held in twenty two purposively selected locations each in West
Pokot and Baringo districts.
Results from the study showed cattle, goats, sheep and poultry were the main types of
animals reared in that order of preference. Donkeys and camels were ranked fifth and
sixth respectively. Nearly all the households in both communities depended on cattle
keeping as the major source of livelihood and the activity was ranked as priority
enterprise by 96.2% and 93. 3 of the groups in West Pokot and Baringo district
respectively.
Cattle diseases were identified as the main constraint affecting production and in
particular, ECF and trypanosomosis were reported as the most important compared to
other diseases. The informants were relatively consistent in estimating the impact of
diseases on cattle derived benefits. There was good agreement among informants in
various groups with Kendalls’ coefficient of concordance (W) values ranging between
0.43 and 0.60 (p < 0:05 – p < 0.01). East Coast fever was found to have the greatest
impact. Based on the findings from this study, there is need for stakeholders in the
livestock industry to develop control strategies that are supportive to the production
systems.